Sky-watchers will watch the two brightest planets in the sky, Jupiter and Venus, having what looks like a VERY near miss tomorrow night.

The two planets will pass one another – roughly two thirds of a full moon’s width apart, in a cosmic conjunction clearly visible from the UK.

They are not about to collide, of course – Venus is now just over 56 million miles from Earth and Jupiter 559 million miles.

How to see the two planets

Tomorrow night they will appear just 22 minutes of arc apart. For comparison, the full moon is 30 minutes of arc across.

Even a small telescope or a pair of binoculars will show the two planets in the same field of view.

At relatively low magnification Jupiter can be seen as a small circular disc accompanied by four bright moons. Venus will be a fat crescent.

A similar conjunction between the two planets will not be seen again from the UK until November 2019.

After tomorrow they will start to go their separate ways again, with Venus below Jupiter.

Robin Scagell, vice-president of the Society for Popular Astronomy, said: ‘The spectacle of the two brightest planets so close together is beautiful and really unusual.

‘Many people will wonder what they are seeing – but it’s just a natural coincidence.

‘On Tuesday Jupiter will appear almost directly above Venus, but the pair will also make a striking sight for an evening or two on either side.

‘It’s a beautiful sight, and one which everyone can enjoy. It’s unusual for two such bright planets to be so close together, particularly in the midsummer evening sky. The time to look is about 10.30 – 11pm, though in the north and west of the UK the times are later because it gets dark later. They will be very low as seen from northern Scotland.’